Trotwood

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Trotwood

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Mark1984 186 posts Aug 27, 2014 3:44 AM	Hillside (I think that is what it was called) was the plat with the streets you just named off. We lived on Lanyard. I knew all of those streets well. Sparks and Stubbs was the only way in & out of there. My mother was involved with the Historical Society at its inception and getting the Train Depot moved to its present location. It use to sit back behind the old meat locker on W. Main which was owned and ran by the Porter family. Its another empty building now. Has been for some time. On Whispering Dr. there was the large old house. Looked like it may have been a farm house when that area was probably farm land. Local legend was that it was haunted. There was a fire there not long ago. I guess it did a good amount of damage, It would be a shame to see that house torn down if it can't be repaired. Whenever I make trips out to Cedar Hill. I always take a drive through old haunts to look around. I just shake my head and wonder what happened to the Trotwood I knew.
FreedomWriter 99 posts Aug 27, 2014 6:28 PM	Just look around and you'll see what happened to Trothood. Its been taken over by people that doesnt seem to care anymore. Sad to say, but true. Last Edited by FreedomWriter on Aug 27, 2014 6:29 PM
KennyE11 203 posts Aug 27, 2014 10:49 PM	Regarding Trotwood "history", I'm sure it's true about any community, that when a large portion of the community moves away or dies off, the new people in the community do not have an appreciation for what came before. It's up to the nostalgic recollections of people like those of us that participate in this blog to keep those memories alive. I try not to get pulled into discussions of the socio-economic reasons for the decline of communities, but I believe that all communities north of Dayton have been in decline for some time. I've only been venting about Trotwood because that's where I went to school, but I have sad feelings every time I drive down Salem Avenue or Main Street, or drive around Downtown on any street that doesn't pass Fifth Third Field. My family ties to the Trotwood area go back to the 19th Century, although I haven't had any family living there in the last twenty years. I personally haven't lived in the Trotwood area since 1984 (or Dayton, or Ohio, since 1986), so I suppose my opinions don't really matter anyway. But I still wanted to share my observations with a group that hopefully would appreciate them. On the positive side, I had fun at the Montgomery County Fair today, watching my brother's granddaughter show their lambs. Wondering what it's going to be like when (or if) the Fair moves to Brookville.
Daytongirl01 38 posts Aug 28, 2014 8:33 AM	KennyE11, I appreciate learning more about the good ole days of Trotwood....I remember it probably as you do. It used to be a great small town that my parents used to drive to, just to get out of Dayton-proper for an evening. I also had a cousin who did a lot of business in Trotwood, he transported mobile-homes back and forth between Trotwood and ILL. I believe there was a plant in Trotwood that manufactured mobile-homes. The draw for my parents was the two-lane back roads that they could use back and forth and enjoy the scenary. Your opinions do matter as well as all your memories...they helped me to remember mine! Thanks for posting them.
Mark1984 187 posts Aug 28, 2014 2:14 PM	Daytongirl01. You are talking about Trotwood Trailers. It was there on S. Broadway St. just north of Main St. The bank and a former fire station are across the street. The building burned down some time in the very early 80s. It was a very large fire. I remember it vividly. The smoke could be seen for miles. It still odd for me to come up Broadway through that intersection and not come up over the hill and over the railroad tracks. The tracks are long gone and the hills were leveled out. The old grain elevator is still there, just empty (no surprise). There is a building across the street from the grain elevator. Anyone here tell me what it was? I know. And it wasn't the True Value hardware store. I mean before that. The railroad tracks figured into it as the there was a siding that run along the building.
supersix 175 posts Aug 29, 2014 6:26 AM	The building across from the elevator was Trotwood Lumber, later PK Lumber.
Mark1984 189 posts Aug 29, 2014 3:35 PM	Supersix got it! That area looks nothing like it did then. The was the railroad siding the ran along both lumber yard and the grain elevator. It crossed Broadway along side the main RR line.
Mark1984 190 posts Aug 30, 2014 6:45 AM	I recall the Boys Baseball Club. When I came back in 2005. I noted that the field where it use to be was quite overgrown. So apparently it had ceased to exist quite some time ago. I graduated from TM in 84 to give you a time frame of things I recall. It is still very odd to go through the intersection of Broadway and Trotwood Blvd and see this large open lot where all the high school building were. The old South building at one time was the only one left standing. But even it has disappeared. The Jr. High school out on Snyder Rd. I guess is still there, but unused as a school. When I went there. The building was only a few years old. Wonder how much loner it will be there?
ChuckM72 1 post Nov 20, 2014 7:35 AM	KennyE: I knew your sister in band. She was very nice.
luv my dayton 742 posts Nov 20, 2014 2:19 PM	Not familiar with the Trotwood area but did go to the Salem Mall a few times and worked with a lady who lived there. Where did the decline come from or should ask what happened? Can anyone shine a light on this to me? Was Maria Joseph nursing facility part of Trotwood. Seems it was in decline way before the economy tanked
Mark1984 199 posts Nov 20, 2014 2:41 PM	LMD. I can answer a couple of your questions. The Maria Joseph facility was originally in Madison Twp prior to the merger. I was a member of Trotwood Rescue and was in & out of the entire facility, a lot. As far as where the decline came from or just what happened. I don't know. All seemed well when I left in late 1990. When I came back in 2005. It was....nothing like it was when I left.
KennyE11 235 posts Nov 21, 2014 12:13 AM	ChuckM - See the topic "NW of Dayton - Greenbriar YMCA Daycamp" for more discussion of the current status of the Greenbrier YMCA property, and my quest to find something similar to what you found 17 years ago. I may be visiting Ohio in December, so if the weather cooperates, I will pay another visit to Sycamore State Park to continue my exploration. When I speak to my sister, I'll see if she can figure out who Chuck M is. LMD - The decline of the Salem Mall can be a touchy subject. I've seen a similar decline of shopping malls in other cities, with a similar cause, but I'm sure that is not the only cause of dead malls. I grew up near the Salem Mall, so it's decline was a tragedy to me, even though I wasn't around to witness all of the decline. Sorry I didn't provide a direct response to your question, but the overall decline of Northwest Dayton, Salem Avenue and Trotwood makes me sad.
carlatm75 137 posts Jan 23, 2015 11:05 AM	KennyE11 - Did you know that Mrs. Combs passed away on Sunday? Her viewing is tonight and funeral tomorrow at the Church of the Brethren. She was a Trotwood Icon. She started out as a teacher, then Vice-Principal of the Jr. High and finally Principal of the High School. She was my principal and I loved her. She was one tough lady but she was fair and expected a lot from her students and she never forgot you. She came to all of our reunions and was loved by all. Here is the link to her obituary: http://www.rogersfuneralhomes.com/obituaries/obituary-listings?obId=388333#/obituaryInfo
Mark1984 217 posts Jan 23, 2015 5:25 PM	carlatm75. I thought that was Mrs. Combs. But I wasn't sure until I just checked the link you gave. I'm pretty sure that when my class graduated in 1984. It was the year that she retired and it was her last commencement. She was quite a presence.
KennyE11 262 posts Jan 23, 2015 10:56 PM	Carla - I wasn't aware, since I don't really have any family connection to Trotwood anymore. Mrs. Combs was my HS Principal (at the same time my dad was President of the School Board, up until his death), but since my brother and sister went to T-M a lot earlier than I did, I don't know if they knew her. I found it interesting that the obit listed her as "Tina" Rosa L. Combs - I thought her name was Lentina, or something like that (maybe that's the "L").
Ared60 96 posts Jan 24, 2015 8:46 AM	Nice to read about some of the old haunts. Our family moved to Broadmoor, in Trotwood, in 1961. Construction was still ongoing at that time. We had season passes at the Aquatic Club, roamed around on our bikes and played in Wolf Creek. Trotwood trailer was a booming business in the late 60s and I worked there for a short time in 67/68. That work experience sure put me off of ever owning a travel trailer/camper. Those things were made of 2x2 boards and aluminum foil. While I was still in high school I work at Elder Beerman, actually a nice place for a kid to work. I made the princely sum of $1.35 each and every hour! I recently drove through Trotwood (thanks to Google Street View) and, while the old house is still there, it seems to have fallen into somewhat rougher shape. The rest looks like a different town altogether. Not much remains from when I saw everything last in 1973. Back to how this post started. Thanks for bringing back memories of Vaniman Ford, the Lumber Co. and etc. We used to deal with a butcher shop, downtown, that had meat lockers. It was on the other side of Broadway and I seem to remember it being on the opposite side of the street, not directly, from the funeral home. Don'know who operated it but they were nice people.
Mark1984 218 posts Jan 24, 2015 12:19 PM	Ared60. Are you talking about the former Trotwood Meat Locker there on W. Main St? I can tell you who owned and ran it. Their last name was Porter. The train depot that sits on the corner of Main and Broadway use to sit behind their building. The donated it to the Historical Society quite some time ago. Their son is now a Captain for the Trotwood Police Dept. now. The funeral home is still there and operated by a Rogers. Third generation I believe now. KennyE11. I thought the same thing. That her name was LeTina Combs. Last Edited by Mark1984 on Jan 24, 2015 6:33 PM
carlatm75 138 posts Jan 24, 2015 2:12 PM	According to her funeral program, Mrs. Combs' name was Rosa Lentini Combs. It was a nice service today but I was disappointed that there weren't very many of her former students there. But there were several retired teachers that I was pleased to see. I saw Mrs. Wolf, Miss Morris, Mrs. O'Connor, Mrs. Townsley, Mrs. Stephens and Mrs. Forraber and Mr. & Mrs. Bobo.
wolfcreek 67 posts Feb 14, 2015 7:08 PM	Hello everyone. It's been a while since I visited this board, and I know I'm late to viewing this thread, but I really enjoyed KennyE11's trip through Trotwood (from last year). I grew up in that area in the 1960s and '70s (Hermosa Drive, to be exact, in what was then called the Northgate neighborhood, between Denlinger and Brumbaugh). Kenny's memory trip was a blast. To be honest, I haven't been back there in years, because I've lost so many loved ones in recent years that visiting the old neighborhood is just a bit too painful and raw. Couple questions: Where was Vanniman's? I"m having trouble picturing that -- was it near the bowling alley, or closer to the bakery? Also, Kenny, where was your family farm on Denlinger? Was it the big one next to the JCC, across from what used to be the cornfield and pond owned by the nuns?
KennyE11 270 posts Feb 15, 2015 12:01 AM	wolfcreek - I'm glad you enjoyed my trip down Memory Lane. I too find it painful to visit Trotwood these days, but apparently for different reasons. I no longer have any family in the Trotwood area, but it was still my hometown, so I always feel compelled to pass through. Regarding Vaniman's Ford, it was farther west in Old Town Trotwood, closer to Broadway Avenue (Union Road). If you use Google Maps street view, and start heading east from the corner of Main and Broadway, along the north side of Main you will see the old bank building on the corner, a house next to a white building, then you will see Vaniman's showroom with the Service Department behind it. The adjacent parking lot was the sales lot, and the separate building in the back was the Body Shop. There were a number of Denlinger family farms along Denlinger Road (hence the name of the road). I'm not sure if the farm you recall was one of the Denlinger farms, since I believe there was a Hyre family farm in that area that lasted longer than the Denlinger farms (which were torn down for development). Our farm was on the west side of Denlinger Road, opposite from your neighborhood. The plat entered by Heatherton Drive was our property. Again using Google Maps street view, the church at that location is approximately where the farmhouse stood (where I was born). I believe the Trotwood Connector (State Route 49) passes through the back side of our property). You are probably too young to remember our farm, as we sold it in 1963 (when I was two years old). I barely remember visiting the farm before it was torn down to develop the plat.
miles away 4 posts Feb 16, 2015 11:48 AM	KennyE11, hey, we meet again! I first saw your post on Trotwood not long after you put it up and I've hesitated joining in as I still find it very hard to comment about the portal through which I entered this world. Whenever anyone asks me where I'm from, I always say "Trotwood, to begin with." and give them two servings of Charles Dickens at once to check their literacy. It goes over most of their heads as very few people these days have read that in the novel David Copperfield's middle name was "Trotwood" since he was named after his aunt Betsy Trotwood, and they just tune out the Jacob Marley introduction; maybe that's as sad as Trotwood, Ohio itself these days. And please don't get mad at me if you still call the town home. I wouldn't reminisce here if it didn't still mean something to me. In '56 my parents built one of the modern, little ranches on the circle made up of Rio Grande and Mario, just off Wolf Creek Pike. I dropped by in '59. Once I got old enough to be aware of my surroundings, the Dick Van Dyke Show was on the air and I thought their house looked just like mine. I though everybody's house looked just like mine! (I didn't realize that TV show's stage set was five times bigger than our little house; I thought it was all the same.) My cousins lived on Lanyard, in the plat just across/south of the Pennsylvania railroad tracks from Rio Grande and Mario (Mario backs up to the tracks.) Their house was even smaller than ours -- but I couldn't tell -- and when we saw the smoke of the train coming out of Dayton to the east, crossing Olive Road and thundering past their house, we'd run up to the chain link fence of their backyard, no more than twenty feet from the train and tracks, and wave to the people, wondering where they were going. Indianapolis? Chicago? Alaska? We didn't know. They'd wave back and the rolling mass of the speeding train would try to blow us down like a strong wind. When I'd spend the night there, the trains rumbling past in the dark would shake the little house so much -- and we're talking brick ranch here -- my trundle bed would scoot across the floor like in the Lucy movie. Now I think the Pennsylvania RR is a bike path. Sad. When the train wasn't in the way, you could look beyond the tracks and across the field to the back of Beerman's. I well remember Vaniman Ford as my dad test drove a car there -- the only Ford he ever drove, I think. He didn't buy it; bought a red '63 Dodge 330 instead. It had a push-button transmission selector, just like the a.m. radio. I always got my hair cut at Rex's Barbershop, just up Union Road from the bank on the corner of Main. And I always wanted one of those round, metal stock tanks they always had stacked one within another at the grain elevator/farm store on Union just on the south side of the train tracks. I thought they were swimming pools! I think my mom, being a full-blooded Briar probably thought the same, but didn't say anything. My dad, who grew up in Eaton, I now realize knew full well what they were and probably always laughed to himself when I went on about getting one of those swimming pools. That grain elevator ain't lookin' so good these days. Sad again. We shopped at Beerman's and Beeber's Drugs -- but never Kroger's -- grocery shopping was always at the Liberal's at Siebenthaler and Salem Avenue. I saw (noticed, actually) my first Corvette, a Stingray, probably a '64 convertible in grey with the top down, cruising out of Frisch's one evening. I later became a car freak, but that's another story. And we went to the Trotwood Swim (Acquatic?) Club, which was awesome because it was just like Old River without being fed from a spring in Antarctica. We sold the little house on Rio Grande in '65 (before I could ever figure out just where the Petries lived) and rented an apartment on the hill behind Broadmoor School for my first grade year, as my parents built a new house on some planet in another galaxy called Kettering. The brand-new Trotwood Library just opened down on Free Pike just behind that apartment,and I got my first library card and library books. I distinctly remember taking home Green Eggs and Ham. I haven't been the same since. And now Broadmoor School is gone. And Trotwood Lanes, and so much else, including my first girlfriend who left me for Paul McCartney in 1964 (don't worry; I don't think it worked out well for her, either.) Around four or five years ago, my wife and I got off the highway early to go out of our way to pass through Trotwood on our way to see family in Dayton for Thanksgiving (since we live "miles away".) I have the same hollow feeling in my stomach as I write this as I had when we drove through town back then, looking for any traces of a happy childhood memory. I think that's why we all write this stuff down these days, to prove to ourselves that it really did all happen.
johnfader 66 posts Feb 16, 2015 2:44 PM	miles away - years since I heard the expression "Briars". When I moved to Indiana in 1969 and talked about briars, nobody knew what I was talking about. When I explained, they would say "oh, you mean hillbillies".
Mark1984 223 posts Feb 16, 2015 4:24 PM	milesaway. Who were cousins that lived on Lanyard? I lived on Lanyard from 1966-1986. Vickwood Lane was on the other side of the tracks from where you were talking about. I know that whole plat like the back of my hand. Covered every inch of it on a bike. The thing that stunned me the most when I first saw the neighborhood for the first time in almost 15 years. All of the trees that used to be in front yards were gone! The two we had in our front yard and the one in the back. Gone. All the other houses that had trees. Gone. Anyone know what happened to them? I get that same hollow feeling you described whenever I go back to take a look around. I wonder why I torture myself doing it. I remember when Frisch's had car hop service in the back parking lot. You avoided the bowling alley after 6 pm because (according to my Dad) that is when the leagues were there. When the railroad was still a very active line. People couldn't understand how we never heard the trains that would rumble through in the middle of the night. The kids growing up there now have no clue of the Trotwood we grew up in. Depressing. I had to laugh when I read about the big metal stock tanks stacked inside of each other in front of the grain elevator. You're not the only one (as a kid) who thought they were swimming pools! Last Edited by Mark1984 on Feb 16, 2015 4:51 PM
KennyE11 274 posts Feb 16, 2015 11:42 PM	miles - Trotwood will always be my hometown, even though I never actually lived in town (born on Denlinger Rd, moved to Oakes Rd as a toddler, then moved to the Salem Mall area around age 9). I graduated from high school at T-M, and that wasn't an embarrassing thing to admit to then. When I meet someone new however, I always indicate that I'm from Dayton, unless they are familiar with the Dayton area then I will indicate Trotwood. I don't ever bother with the David Copperfield reference - I don't believe the people I meet are very familiar with the works of Charles Dickens. [Side note: I was always amused that Uriah Heep was a character in that novel, as it always makes me think of the Rock band.] johnf - We had another topic on this blog regarding ways to tell if someone was from the Dayton area, where the use of the term Briar was apparently limited to the Miami Valley. I was always led to believe it referred to the influx of people from Kentucky that moved to the industrial Ohio cities (Cinci and Dayton) to find factory work. They weren't necessarily hillbillies, but I suppose they weren't far removed from their Appalachian roots. Mark - When we lived on Oakes Rd, we actually had one of those stock tanks that we filled with water to use as an above-ground swimming pool, so you weren't quite mistaken. Last Edited by KennyE11 on Feb 16, 2015 11:43 PM
wolfcreek 77 posts Feb 17, 2015 7:27 PM	Love this thread. Kenny, the Denlinger farm you mention on Heatherton was indeed gone by the time I arrived (I assume the Heatherton plat was built on the land?). My friends and I spent many, many hours playing in that woods next to Heatherton, and would follow the creek (which began at the nun's pond on the other side of Denlinger) all the way to where it met up with Wolf Creek near Free Pike. God, I loved it. Felt like we were in the wilderness, a vast woodland, rather than just a bunch of undeveloped lots and a drainage creek, which I now know it to be. And we would sometimes walk to the end of Heatherton, then continue walking through that big cornfield until we reached another woods (where the new, hideous highway now slices through), and deep into those woods was an old log & stone cabin (along another creek that fed into Wolf Creek, I think). The cabin must have been an old one-room fishing or hunting shelter, maybe, but we'd just marvel at the empty beer bottles and old condom wrappers. We were entranced! As for "briars," yeah, that's definitely a Dayton-area expression. It started, I believe, as "briar-hoppers," similar to "clodhopper," which means someone from a rural area (i.e., they live among -- and hop over -- briarpatches and clods of dirt). Referred to the folks from Appalachia who took the "hillbilly highway," i.e., I-75, to get Dayton factory jobs after WWII. Pretty harsh class system, looking back...
KennyE11 276 posts Feb 17, 2015 11:37 PM	wolfcreek - I'm glad that you got some enjoyment out of our old property. We moved off the farm when I was two years old, so I don't remember living there. I remember that we toured our old farmhouse, just before they tore it down to build the plat, but I believe the out buildings were gone by then. That's about all that I remember of it. Fortunately we had an old aerial photo of the farm that was enlarged and framed, so I at least got to see what it looked like.
wolfcreek 88 posts Feb 18, 2015 9:01 PM	Oh, I would love to see that aerial photo Kenny. Probably not possible, but sounds very cool. The woods and cornfields, both on your side of Denlinger and on the nun's side, with the pond, are very, very special memories for me. I spent so many hours there over the years, in summer heat and winter snow, with my cousin, who I loved like a brother and is now passed. I wouldn't trade my childhood in Trotwood (well, Madison Twp., technically then) for anything.
KennyE11 281 posts Feb 18, 2015 11:04 PM	wolfcreek - If you go to the topic "NW of Dayton - Greenbriar YMCA Daycamp", there is a post by tlturbo from Augsut 30, 2014, that lists the Historic Aerials website, focused on the Trotwood area - I would have copied the link and posted it here, except it seems that every time I try to include a website URL, my post hits the Spam folder. You add the All Roads overlay, then you can zoom in/out and move the map around to see other locations. It's a handy website when trying to remember old Dayton stuff. It has aerial snapshots from various years, so you can see how places developed. I go back and forth between old aerial views and newer Google Maps satellite / birds eye views, to help visualize where things were.
miles away 9 posts Feb 19, 2015 12:52 PM	Mark1984 - My cousins were named Mike and Tim (I'll leave off their last name) and they would have been about 8 and 4 in 1966. I'm pretty sure the address was 29 Lanyard; it backs right up to the tracks. Now, at one point (late '60's?) they moved to Pittsburgh for a few years and then came back; they must have rented the house when they were gone? A kid doesn't pay attention to those details, I'm afraid. Once Mike (about 8 months older than me) got to be a teenager, they moved to Appleton, Wisconsin with NCR. Mike ended up a doctor in Philadelphia. I remember the neighborhood - all neighborhoods, really, back then - being full of kids. My dad and I would walk to their house on Lanyard from our house on Rio Grande by taking Vickwood after walking down the tracks a ways. wolfcreek - Congratulations on giving the most thorough teaching of the history, meaning and usage of the word "Briar"! That was perfect. The true ones who made that Exodus north hated the word, and us kids loved it; still use it no matter who doesn't understand it. I always said that it applied to the ones who left eastern KY and their kids born in Dayton and DEtroit (you have to pronounce it like that) and by the third generation, it's lost. My wife still call me one. I remind her that it takes one to know one. Pass the grits...
Mark1984 224 posts Feb 19, 2015 5:49 PM	milesaway. Sorry, the names aren't ringing any bells. If it was 29 Lanyard, the people who lived there when I was a kid still live there. I went to school with their oldest son. All of my growing up years, that whole neighborhood was crawling with kids! Elementary school years. All of those kids would fill 1 bus! Of course we all went to Madison Park. I did a little digging some time ago in property records to see who still lives there. There was I think 2 families I knew that still live on Lanyard. Everyone else has moved or is gone. All of the trips I've taken through the old neighborhood. I have yet to see one kid out and about. Or anyone else for that matter. Does anyone know if Vickwood Ln runs all the way across since the RR tracks are gone now?
wolfcreek 98 posts Feb 22, 2015 10:49 AM	Kenny, thanks so much for suggesting those aerial photos. I spent, literally, two hours looking at them last night, traveling back in time to 1958, 1968 and 1975. Incredibly interesting.
KennyE11 287 posts Feb 23, 2015 1:25 AM	wolfcreek - The thanks should go to tlturbo. I too am glad for the Historic Aerials link - it really helped me on my Greenbrier YMCA quest, and I've found it useful on other topics, like looking up our old family farm on Denlinger Road.

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